How much is a small piece of land worth?!

paultoon

Hi all, I'm looking for a bit of advice:

I'm wanting to buy a small strip of wasteland next to my house - about 6ft x 12ft.

It is at the end of a housing estate and is still owned by the housing company, but it's too small for them to do anything with it, and it's overrun with nettles and weeds - so I want to claim it basically just to tidy it up as an extra bit of garden. I've been advised by the local planning dept that I would get permission to do this.

I've written to the housing company who have said they are prepared to sell, but want me to make a written offer and pay their legal costs.

Two questions:
1. Can anyone give me a ballpark figure as to how much to offer, as I have no idea?!
2. If I instructed a solicitor to complete the conveyancing, would I still have to pay legal costs to the housing company? And any idea how much this might cost?

Grateful for your advice!

Paul

GDB2222

Offer them £1,000? See what their reaction is. Then they'll want their own solicitor to act for them, which they'll want you to pay for.

The alternative is simply to ignore the legals and get on with the job. They probably won't notice or care, provided you don't try to fence it off.

princessthrifty

Hi. I am in exactly the same position as you. I am buying a small strip of land next to our garden which as part of all the communal areas on our estate is owned by the local housing association. The land is about 50m long by 0.5 metre wide and runs the length of our house and garden.

The housing association had it valued by a surveyor (which we had to pay £250 for) and they have offered it to us for £500 plus we have to pay their legal fees (around £750). We also need our own solicitor who has agreed £200 plus search fees.

I have gone back to the housing association and said the costs outweigh the benefits for such a small strip of land (which would just enable us to plant a new hedge before taking the old one down) and they are currently looking at the price of the land and seeing if their solicitors will reduce their fee. Time will tell!

I would offer £500 max and see what they say. You could focus on the fact that you are removing the burden of up keep from them. Best of luck!

adg1

The strip of land is worth whatever you are prepared to pay for it, no more, no less.

They can't do anything with it so make an offer you are comfortable with and see what their reaction is.

Bermuda_John

i'd offer them £1 and offer to pay the legal fees

Geenie

adg1 wrote: »

The strip of land is worth whatever you are prepared to pay for it, no more, no less.

They can't do anything with it so make an offer you are comfortable with and see what their reaction is.

True they can't do anything with it, ie build a house on it, but it enlarges the plot of the OP's property, therefore improving the value.....possibly enabling them to develop because of the extra strip!

This will be a factor for the HA, as with anybody selling land today. Therefore, expect to pay all of the fees, as is normal when an owner is approached for land purchase.....no matter how small.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

paultoon wrote: »

Two questions:
1. Can anyone give me a ballpark figure as to how much to offer, as I have no idea?!
2. If I instructed a solicitor to complete the conveyancing, would I still have to pay legal costs to the housing company? And any idea how much this might cost?

Grateful for your advice!

Paul

Tiny patch of land, worth a grand or less.

Fees should be no more than 1500.

Start low and increase if needed.

That little land won't increase your house value, but not having an unkempt area beside it may.

paultoon

Thanks for all of the useful advice!

Ideally I'd like to keep the total cost of obtaining the land and refencing it etc to under £1,500, including legal fees and planning fees. So I think I'll start by offering £250 for the land, plus offer to pay the legal fees up to a maximum of £500.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

That little land won't increase your house value, but not having an unkempt area beside it may.

This is exactly my reasoning - if I don't manage to buy the land I'll either insist they come and clear the land up, or as a last resort I'll hop over the fence and spend a couple of weekends clearing the place up myself!

I'll let you know how I get on!

GDB2222

Can you let us know how you get on, please?

paultoon

Just an update on this, I was unable to get a response from the housing company, and since my enquiry was made someone has come along and marked off part of the land with a piece of orange tape... My guess is I've inadvertently reminded them about a piece of land they can use!

I've decided it's going to be more hassle and cost than it's worth so as soon as the weather is better I'm going to hop over the fence and clear up the land before putting my house on the market.

SailorSam

One of my neighbours has a small strip of land like that. They planted conifers at the edge of it and threw grass seed down, they moved one of their own conifers and each time they're mowing the grass, they mow the grass on the spare land.
They're hoping to be able to say in years time, we;ve been looking after it, so it's ours.
Rather like you hear of squatters moving into a house and years later their allowed to claim it as their own.